magic such as gandr, galdr, útiseta and so on – formed a kind of collective, a package of
techniques and principles for contacting the supernatural powers and either binding or
persuading them to do one’s bidding. It can be helpful to view them as tools in a toolkit
of magic, to be selected and combined in different ways in order to suit the task at hand.
They remain individual and distinctive, but nonetheless part of a recognisable whole,
the portfolio of a Viking Age sorcerer. As we might expect, there was great variation not
only in what could be achieved through sorcery, but also in the ways that this could be
brought to completion and in the abilities of those who would attempt to do so.
GODS AND HUMANSFrom the beginning seiðr was a prerogative of the gods, and it is clear that its origins
predate the Viking Age by several centuries (Hedeager 1997 ). The sources relate how
Óðinn became the supreme master of sorcery, having learnt of its powers from the
goddess Freyja. In their combined connotations of violence, sex and the powers of the
mind, these two deities embody many of the key attributes of Nordic magic, as we shall
see below.
Sorcery was also learned by humans, however, and it is clear from the texts that it was
primarily the province of women. Men were certainly known to perform seiðr, though its
practice brought with it a strange kind of dishonour and social rejection, combining
cowardice and general ‘unmanliness’ with suggestions of homosexuality (against
which Viking society held extremely strong prejudices; Meulengracht Sørensen 1983 ).
Begging the question as to why some men were nevertheless prepared to follow this life,
the answer seems to have been that its very risks also brought male sorcerers a peculiarly
vital power. This might also explain the contradiction of Óðinn achieving mastery
of this female domain, in keeping with his willingness to make great sacrifices for
knowledge that could be bought in no other way (Solli 2002 ).
We know of some forty-five terms for Viking sorcerers of both sexes, though women
predominate, and the names emphasise that a range of specialists provided services of
different kinds according to their skills. Chief among these seem to have been the vo ̨lur
(vo ̨lva in the singular), powerful sorceresses who could see into the future and whom
even Óðinn consulted. One of their main attributes was a staff of sorcery, and objects
believed to be such tools have been excavated from almost forty burials in Scandinavia
and beyond (Price 2002 : ch. 3 ). They have been convincingly interpreted as metaphorical
distaffs (Heide 2006 a and b), used to ‘spin out’ the souls of their users, though it is clear
that they also have many other symbolic overtones.
From these graves, supplemented by literary descriptions, we can gain an idea of
how these masters and mistresses of seiðr may have appeared. Dressed often in clothes of
great richness, with gold and silver embroidery that would have shimmered as they
moved, some of these people also wore exotic jewellery such as facial piercings and
toe-rings (Figure 17. 1. 1 ). Along with staffs they carried amulets and charms of various
kinds, including preserved body-parts of animals, and in a handful of graves evidence
has also been found for mind-altering drugs such as cannabis and henbane (Price 2002 :
ch. 3 ).
–– chapter 17 ( 1 ): Sorcery in Old Norse belief––